Apple's iOS source code is out in the wild, now what?

Kristin Armstrong

And now that the iBoot source code is in the hands of anyone who wants a copy, it's likely to give hackers ideas, inspiration, and above all, vulnerabilities to allow them to crack open older devices. However, Apple did not explain how the source code ended up being exposed to the public. Levin has written books on the internals of iOS and Mac OS X and said the code aligns with sections of iBoot he's reverse-engineered.

Apple iOS source code was leaked earlier this week by some anonymous hacker, raising concerns over the vulnerability of the iOS devices. READ NEXT:70% of consumers would boycott services with poor data protection The release, presumably made by an Apple insider, has been described by iOS expert Jonathan Levin as "the biggest leak in history". Also, the reason this code is so vital as it is responsible for starting up an iOS device, or in other words, loads iOS in the first place each time the device is turned on. Although Apple hasn't directly commented on the breach's authenticity, its expedited DMCA request strongly implies the source was genuine code. "It is not open-source", said Apple in its request, through lawyers Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

According to Gizmodo, that same bit of code has been circulating the web since late a year ago, when a user uploaded it on Reddit.

Though the code is for the iOS 9, some of the parts can be found in the iOS 11, notes The Verge.

The code leaked onto GitHub claims to be designed for iOS 9 but much of it is likely to be found in iOS 11, making the leak potentially unsafe to Apple's mobile software. The source code for a core component of the iPhone's operating system was posted to the software development platform GitHub; drawing a quick response from the tech giant. Last year, a Reddit user named Apple_Internals posted the code, but at the time, it failed to gain the same amount of attention.

Having access to such source code is one way for security researchers to find flaws in source code and report any bugs they might throw up that could potentially be exploited by hackers.

Motherboard confirmed that this particular source code began circulating more widely in 2017 with a fourth and fifth source who are familiar with the jailbreaking and iPhone research communities.

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